These moments of relaxation were, however, only occasional.  All the rest was toil, and the routine of hard work and grave assiduity went on month after month, and year after year, with little interruption.  With the exceptions which we have noted, all pleasures and distractions seemed of little interest to Lee, and to the present writer, at least, he seemed on all occasions to bear the most striking resemblance to the traditional idea of Washington.  High principle and devotion to duty were plainly this human being’s springs of action, and he went through the hard and continuous labor incident to army command with a grave and systematic attention, wholly indifferent, it seemed, to almost every species of diversion and relaxation.

This attempt to show how Lee appeared at that time to his solders, has extended to undue length, and we shall be compelled to defer a full notice of the most interesting and beautiful trait of his character.  This was his humble and profound piety.  The world has by no means done him justice upon this subject.  No one doubted during the war that General Lee was a sincere Christian in conviction, and his exemplary moral character and life were beyond criticism.  Beyond this it is doubtful if any save his intimate associates understood the depth of his feeling on the greatest of all subjects.  Jackson’s strong religious fervor was known and often alluded to, but it is doubtful if Lee was regarded as a person of equally fervent convictions and feelings.  And yet the fact is certain that faith in God’s providence and reliance upon the Almighty were the foundation of all his actions, and the secret of his supreme composure under all trials.  He was naturally of such reserve that it is not singular that the extent of this sentiment was not understood.  Even then, however, good men who frequently visited him, and conversed with him upon religious subjects, came away with their hearts burning within them.  When the Rev. J. William Jones, with another clergyman, went, in 1863, to consult him in reference to the better observance of the Sabbath in the army, “his eye brightened, and his whole countenance glowed with pleasure; and as, in his simple, feeling words, he expressed his delight, we forgot the great warrior, and only remembered that we were communing with an humble, earnest Christian.”  When he was informed that the chaplains prayed for him, tears started to his eyes, and he replied:  “I sincerely thank you for that, and I can only say that I am a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone, and that I need all the prayers you can offer for me.”